Schools begin scheduling makeup days

HAMPTON ROADS, Va. (WVEC) -- After three days of canceled classes, most students in Hampton Roads will be heading back to school on Thursday.

Question for many parents now is- will the students be required to make up the missed days?

13News Now reached out to all school systems in Hampton Roads for the answers.

HAMPTON:

"We have used three storm days so far, and we had three days already built into the calendar. We do not have any left in contingency, and if we have to make up any additional days, those will be made up at the discretion of our superintendent."

NEWPORT NEWS:

"Including today (Wednesday), students in Newport News Public Schools have missed three days of school. The 2016-2017 school year calendar includes one inclement weather day. No decision has been made regarding make-up days."

VIRGINIA BEACH:

"Including today (Wednesday), the school division has had to close school five days this year due to inclement weather (9/21, 9/22, 1/9, 1/10 and 1/11).

Please note, Oct. 10 was also closed due to the flooding from Hurricane Matthew; however, that was a previously scheduled professional learning day for staff members, so students did not have to make up that day. Staff members worked with their supervisor individually to create a flexible makeup plan for that lost time.

In a separate statement, Virginia Beach schools announced their January snow makeup days:

Feb. 20 (Presidents’ Day) will make up time lost Jan. 9

March 8 (originally designated as a professional learning day for staff) will be a makeup day for Jan. 10

Jan. 11 will not be made up by students or 12-month employees who worked Jan. 11; missed time for all other employees will be made up through a flexible schedule or use of leave.

Should additional days be missed due to inclement weather, time will be made up by adding minutes to the school day and/or other means as designated by the Superintendent. State law requires that school divisions provide a minimum of 180 days or 990 hours of instruction each school year.

PORTSMOUTH:

"We have 2 days "built-in" our calendar and they have not yet been used. So far, we have been out of school 3 days this week. Superintendent Dr. Elie Bracy III will discuss plans to make up days missed once school reopens. Options could include using those "banked" days, designating other make-up days, or a combination. He'll then make that recommendation to the School Board for approval. No decision has been made yet."

CHESAPEAKE:

"Chesapeake Public Schools used two bank days this fall with the two different flooding events. The school division had 5 banked hours left for this semester going into this weather event. Make up days have currently not been confirmed. Once a revised school calendar is established it will be placed on the school division's website and potentially a Parent Alert System phone call will go out with the information."

Thursday, January 26, 2017, will remain a regular, instructional day as scheduled and mark the first day of exams.

Friday, January 27, 2017, originally scheduled as an Early Release Day for all students, will be a regular, full instructional day for all students and mark the second day of exams.

Monday, January 30, 2017, originally scheduled as a Teacher Workday/In-Service Day will be a regular, full instructional day for all students - finalize exams. (The Teacher Workday/In-Service Day is waived.)

Tuesday, January 31, 2017, originally scheduled as a Teacher Workday will be a regular, full instructional day for all students. January 31 will mark the end of the grading period.

Wednesday, February 1, 2017, originally scheduled as an instructional day, will be a Teacher Workday. (This will provide one day between semesters. A banked day from the second semester will be used in place of the instructional day originally scheduled.)

Thursday, February 2, 2017, will remain an instructional day and will now mark the first day of the second semester.

SUFFOLK:

"The approved schedule below will allow students to make up lost instructional time due to snow days January 9 – 11, 2017. The approved 2016-17 calendar indicates that President’s Day (Feb. 20) and the March 15th Teacher Work Day, (an early dismissal day), are the next two days which should be used as make-up days. However, to remain in compliance with Virginia Department of Education required instructional hours, it was approved by the Suffolk School Board that the Parent Teacher Conference Day scheduled for February 13, 2017 also be used as a make-up day. This will provide a full make up day for students."

February 13, 2017 (originally a parent-teacher conference day)

February 20, 2017 (President's Day)

March 15, 2017 (originally a Teacher Work Day)

NORFOLK:

"Due to hurricanes/tropical storms earlier this year, students missed September 21, a banked day was used. Our next storm day, October 10, did not require a make-up day as students were already scheduled to be out of school to allow for a professional development day for staff. This left one banked day from the first semester.The recent snow event caused NPS to close January 9-11; as a result, we will use January 31 and March 3 as make up-days for Monday and Tuesday of this week. As for Wednesday, we will use the banked day from the first semester. This leaves NPS with one remaining banked day. Should we need any additional days during the school year, they will be determined at the Superintendent's discretion."

YORK COUNTY:

The York County School Division has made an adjustment to the 2016-17 calendar to address the school closings that took place this month. Monday, January 30, originally scheduled as a teacher workday, will now be a regular school day for all students. January 30 will be the first day of the second semester and will be an A day for secondary students. While the division was closed for three instructional days, only one make-up day will be scheduled.

This adjustment was made after reviewing the past several school years, which were affected by inclement weather in late January, February and into March. When considering the options to make up days as we proceed through the school year, the division determined that a proactive approach would be most beneficial to our students.